Taxonomic principles and tools in botanical research

This advanced short course will teach you key taxonomic and field skills and techniques in botanical research

Course Overview

This five-day course combines a mixture of lectures, demonstrations and hands-on practical sessions. It also includes a one-day field excursion to provide key training in taxonomic and field skills across a broad range of botanical groups.

Training will be tailored to the requirements of the participants, with course delegates able to choose from and receive specialist training in vascular plants (flowering plants and ferns), bryophytes, lichens or seaweeds.   

This course has a capacity for 24 participants. It is suitable for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, early career biology and environmental sciences researchers and applied users, who lack the taxonomic expertise necessary to optimally produce/access/use taxonomic information as well as to interpret effectively data generated by other techniques. 

By working closely with Museum scientists, participants will gain expertise to meet the needs and challenges of their current and future careers.

Training Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand key principles and techniques of taxonomy.
• Know how best to access and use taxonomic resources (herbaria, libraries, floras, web-based).
• Have a good understanding of the key features and terminology used in identification.
• Work confidently with keys for identification.
• Appreciate the critical role of specimens in scientific research.
• Have a firm grasp of best practices in collecting, preparing and preserving specimens for research.
• Know how to optimise herbarium use for research.
• Acquire field skills: identification/collection of specimens for taxonomic research.
• Gain knowledge of representative taxa (chosen group) through the collection, preparation and preservation of specimens.

Course content

Day 1 (all participants): introduction to the course. Principles of taxonomy: Dissecting a taxonomic account; Taxa, their discovery and delimitation; Nomenclature; Identification tools; The use of molecular data for taxon delimitation and identification

The following days are tailored training in a taxonomic group of choice, as specified on the application form.

Day 2: demonstrations tailored to taxonomic groups: diversity; classification; main diagnostic characters (e.g., morphology, anatomy, reproductive biology, life history stages); methods for identification (use of keys and descriptions); terminology; best practice in collecting specimens, including legal frameworks.  

Day 3: field excursions will teach participants hands-on best-practice methodologies for specimen and field data collection and field identification skills. The excursions will also equip participants with an understanding of the habitat requirements and ecology of the chosen taxonomic group.  

Day 4: hands-on practical training in microscopy and identification using living material from the field and herbarium specimens; how to use a research herbarium, including best practices for processing voucher specimens.

Day 5: a continuation of day 4, but will also include a Q&A session with course conveners. 

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